Just A Number
by Ziggurat Rolsovitch
Summary: While protecting Nunnally, Suzaku runs into some trouble. He tried to save her feelings, but does he end up hurting them instead? One-shot. K plus for the R word. o.0


Disclaimer: I Do Not Own CG.

Small edit. 

Alrighty then! :D This story is dedicated to my sister Stacey for her birthday! Happy birthday sis! I loves you! ^^ She's one of the few people that accept me for who I am. It is not very long and I think she derserves a better story, but... for now... until I can write something better this must do!

XxXxX

It was a typical school day, at least for Suzaku. He went to class, went to lunch and got food thrown at him by Britannian and then had to clean out his locker full of junk and terrible names in permanent marker. In fact, some students once put a snake in his locker, which bit him and had him out of school for awhile.

So when he cleaned it he had to be extra careful. He carefully hid it from Lelouch and Nunnally, speak of which, he needed to meet them for lunch.

Underneath a quiet maple tree in the court yard Lelouch stared at his sister for a few moments, not quite believing this.

"Really?" He asked.

"Are you upset, brother?" Nunnally wondered, in her cute voice and tilting her head to the side slightly.

"Oh, no. I'm actually quiet happy, I just don't want you to get hurt. Go ahead and ask him though. I'm sure he would love to go with you."

"Oh? You think, Lelouch?"

"Of course. Why would he say no?"

"I guess you're right. You're sure it would be okay to ask?"

"Yes." They both looked over when they heard running footsteps as their friend arrived finally.

"I'm sorry. I know I'm late." Suzaku told them, bending over slightly out of breath. It was an odd thing to see Suzaku of all people out of breath.

"Hey, Suzaku. What took so long?" Lelouch asked, rubbing the back of his head nervously. "You didn't get bit by another snake did you? You better not hide it this time if you did."

"No. I didn't get bit by a snake. But, Arthur did… well… never mind." He moved to sit besides Nunnally as Lelouch set a paper bag down.

"Oh!" Lelouch said suddenly, a little overdramatically. "I forgot some of my school work. I better go get it. I'll be right back."

"Alright, brother." Nunnally said, waving in the wrong direction which made Suzaku laugh a little bit, already figuring she did that, she sighed and poked him for making fun, causing him to laugh even harder.

"That's just weird." He sobered up a little. "Lelouch normally doesn't forget things."

"Yes, brother seems to remember everything."

"Yeah." He glanced over when he heard voices, worried about getting caught talking to them. He just didn't want them to be tormented because of him. He would never forgive himself if that happened, sighing he glanced up into the branches of the tree, seeing sunlight coming through the gaps.

"Suzaku, you really should come and visit more." Nunnally said pouting a little. Ugh, that look, he thought. Who could resist that?

"I know. I'm sorry. It's just that…"

"Just that what?"

"I don't want to make your or Lelouch's lives any more difficult." He told her, lying back on the ground and staring up.

"But, you wouldn't."

"Wouldn't? if you could prove it to me… maybe."

"Don't you like visiting?" She asked and he quickly sat up, taking her hands in his.

"Of course I do, but everyone around here would be terrible to you if they knew the truth. I couldn't bare it if I were the cause of any misery in your life."

"It makes me even more sad you won't come and visit. I don't care what people do or say. All I need to be happy are you and brother." She told him and he smiled, even if she couldn't see it. "Suzaku… I wanted to ask you something."

"What?"

"I-"

"Hey!" A boy shouted, with his two friends besides him. "Nunnally, you know you're talking to an eleven, right?"

Nunnally was about to reply, before Suzaku cut her off. "No. I failed to mention it."

"Failed to mention it!" The boy shouted. "you want us to take care of him?"

"No." Nunnally said quickly, before Suzaku could speak for her. She didn't need him to protect her. "I would like to talk to Suzaku." She didn't want to call him on the other thing or he'd get a reputation as a lair as well.

"Why would you want to talk to this eleven?"

"I think… that we could be good friends." She stated and heard the boy scoff.

"Unbelievable." They left after that, unhappy to have no excuse to beat Suzaku up. Suzaku stayed silent then, but came back around when Nunnally brushed her fingers along his knuckles gently.

"Don't be sad." She requested in a whisper, although she was the one that was sad from this incident, not him.

"I'm not sad." He relied, reaching up with a hand to wipe away a tear from her face. "Now… what was it you wanted to ask me?"

"Oh… uhm." She flushed a little bit. "I only wanted to ask, if you would… like… to go and have dinner with me…"

"Di-oh. Oh! You mean… like a date?" He asked, smiling sadly. "I'm sorry… Nunnally… I can't."

"Suzaku…?" She went silent then and pulled her hands away from his, shocking him a bit. She'd never pulled away from him. Ever.

"Nun-"

"Alright! I got them." Lelouch said, grinning on his way back, but when he saw the looks on their faces it faded slowly. "Did I… miss something? Nunnally?"

"Lelouch, can we go now?" Nunnally asked and he glanced at Suzaku.

"Yes, but why?" Lelouch started to ask, but she cut him off.

"Let's just go."

He helped her up and they started to leave, before Lelouch shot a glare at Suzaku. He didn't know what had happened, but he was sure it was something to do with him. Suzaku was unable to move, but he knew that Nunnally was very hurt by what he said.

Snapping out of it he started after them.

"Nunnally, wait!" He yelled, but before he could catch up with them he was stopped by those students. He tried to take a step back. "Please, step aside. I've got to-"

"What are you? Some kind of rapist? She was so nice as to talk to a filthy eleven and you try to-"

"No! I would never!" Suzaku shouted, outraged by that accusation from this boy.

"Pst. What are you doing to say you were friends or something? Nobody will believe that, dirty eleven." He whistled and his friend tossed him a baseball bat. "We're going to teach you a lesson."

Suzaku didn't know what to do. It wasn't like he could use any military defense moves on these guys. He realized then that he really couldn't. even if he did and claimed self-defense, he'd probably be kicked out of the military and sanctioned. He just had to stand here and take it.

The bat hit him in the stomach and his reflexes caught on, so that he leaned over, before he threw up all over the ground. He knew this was going to be bad.

XxXxX

Through blurred vision, Suzaku woke up by the time it was dark out. He must have been out for hours, he forced himself to stand and his aching and beaten body protested violently. He took a heavy step forward and staggered, before he leaned over and retched his guts up.

It was bad, he knew it was very bad. He should probably be in the hospital right now, but… his feet took him somewhere else.

Staggering again, he caught himself on the wall to his right, before setting his jaw in determination and going forwards.

XxXxX

"I-I… don't believe he said that." Lelouch sighed deeply. His sister had been silent all night, she cried for awhile and Lelouch wanted to beat the living crap out of his friend for this. "I'm sorry, Nunnally."

"I-I-it's alright, Lelouch." Nunnally told him, sniffling.

"You know… he probably didn't mean it the way you think he did."

"Maybe I over-reacted a little. I hope I didn't hurt Suzaku's feelings."

"I doubt it." The knock at the door startled him and Nunnally. He raised an eyebrow. "Who would be here so late?" Shaking his head he got up. "It's probably some idiot."

"Probably." Nunnally laughed.

Lelouch walked through the main room and sighed, before opening the door. His breath escaped him and he had to press a hand over his mouth for a few minutes.

"Su-Suzaku…" He said.

"Where's…" He wavered, eyelids lowering slightly. Words a little mumbled because his jaw was swollen on one side. "I want… to… apologize…"

"Suzaku!" Lelouch shouted, grabbing his friend as he just about fell. "Good God! You need to be in the hospital. Sayoko! call an ambulance!" He shouted and helped Suzaku to a chair, before he closed the door, he noted the trail of blood down the hallway.

The maid came down the stairs and gasped loudly at the sight before her, before quickly getting on the phone and doing as asked.

"Suzaku, talk to me. Tell me what happened." Lelouch ordered, grabbing the rag that Sayko tossed him and pressing it to the bleeding wound above Suzaku's heavily swollen left eye. "Don't close your eyes. Don't go to sleep. Talk to me."

"Lelouch? What's going on?" Nunnally called from her room. Suzaku suddenly clamped a hand down on Lelouch's shoulder.

"Don't let her see…" He muttered, so obviously out of it that he didn't even know what he was saying or whom he was referring to. His head lolled to one side before Lelouch grabbed him by the back of the neck and forced him to stay still.

"Suzaku… look at me. Look at me! Focus! You HAVE GOT to stay awake! I am absolutely sure you have a very, very sever concussion. You cannot fall asleep." Lelouch was finally able to check the rest of the injuries when Sayoko came over to help.

Upon lifting Suzaku's shirt, he had to turn away for a moment, before he turned back and pressed his fingers to his ribs. Broken. They were broken. Going back up, he found that Suzaku's left arm was broken and his shoulder dislocated.

"Tell her I'm sorry." Suzaku begged.

"I'll tell her, Suzaku. Just hang on." Lelouch replied, but Suzaku would have non of it.

"No… not later. Now."

The sirens outside got loud and Sayoko opened the door for the paramedics. They quickly assessed the situation and took Suzaku to the hospital.

"Nunnally! Get fully woken up, we're going to the hospital."

XxXxX

Suzaku woke up from a fuzzy dream, hearing the monitors beeping slowly. He glanced over to find Lelouch asleep in a chair and Nunnally asleep right besides him.

He wanted to reach out and set his hand over hers, but he realized he couldn't move his arm at all. He glanced down and stared at the useless thing for a moment or so.

Looking around, he tried hard to sit up, but the pain was simply too much for him to bare. It was not at all how he wanted to be. It was weakness, insult to injury.

"Suzaku-san?" Nunnally asked in a quiet whisper. "Are you alright?"

"Nunnally… did… Lelouch tell you?"

"I know. I over reacted. You have every right to say no. Please, don't feel sad about it anymore."

"I'm not sad, Nunnally. I'm only worried about you." He said gently as she carefully set her hands on his forearm and squeezed a little. Not that he could feel it.

"Please, don't be. I'm fine. Really." She tried to assure him. "Lelouch even got those guys kicked out of school for you."

"He didn't need to do that." Suzaku said, he reached over with his good hand and set it down over hers. Unbeknownst to them, Lelouch cracked an eye open, before closing it quickly to feigned sleep. "Nunnally… if… it's still alright… I would like to take you out for dinner then."

"S-Suzaku?" She asked in surprise. "But… are you sure? With… me?"

"Of course. You know… that it wasn't you… it was me. I just… don't want you to be hurt by those people. I'm an eleven…" He sighed. "I do… really love you, Nunnally. I do."

"Suzaku-san… I… love you… but… I don't need you to protect me. And you're not a number… you're a Japanese."

"I know." He whispered, he carefully sat up, despite the pain and heard her quiet gasp when she felt his warm breath on his face. "Is this… okay?" He made sure to ask, before she nodded and he kissed her gently.

This. This was what he wanted. She was one of the few people that truly accepted him, weather as a person or a friend. She even loved him. Maybe he wasn't just a number after all.

A throat cleared. "Not that I'm not happy, but… Suzaku… you doing anything perverted to my sister and you'll die." There were a few moments of silence before they all burst out laughing.

Yeah. Suzaku Kururugi wasn't just a number.

XxXxX

The End

God Bless leave a review and thanks for reading. =D


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